Cammermeyer Has Proved Fitness

July 13, 1994

If there is a living adult who poses less of a threat to the integrity of United States military than Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, it's impossible to imagine who it could be. Indeed, it might be argued from her record of military service that the highly decorated Vietnam veteran should be cloned.

Failing that, a federal court did the next best thing last month by ruling that Cammermeyer's discharge from the National Guard because of her sexual orientation was unconstitutional. And so did the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco last Thursday by refusing to delay the order for her reinstatement.

On Saturday, Cammermeyer, who is 52 and a lesbian, returned to her full-time job as chief of nursing services for the 164th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital at Washington

National Guard headquarters near Tacoma.

Given her record as a 26-year veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star for service as an Army Nurse in Vietnam, the military's decision to kick her out of the National Guard after she disclosed during a security clearance interview that she was a lesbian can only be described as ludicrous.

After all, Cammermeyer did more than claim that her sexual orientation has no bearing on her professional qualifications. As the federal court and appeals court acknowledge with her reinstatement, she spent 26 years proving it.